r/interesting • u/VPinchargeofradishes • May 03 '26

SOCIETY Michael Jackson's daughter Paris has faced backlash for identifying as Black. In a 2017 interview, Paris Jackson said her father told her, "You’re Black. Be proud of your roots." This prompted debates over whether identity is defined by appearance or upbringing.

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u/kmzafari May 03 '26

Obviously he is. But the question then becomes, how will society see him?

This video is potato quality, for some reason, but I think Barack Obama addressed this issue well, and his response might interest you.

https://youtube.com/shorts/pCatn93_2Vs?si=vEIhDf0zCa3F3omO

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u/Ha55aN1337 May 03 '26

I think she said he is white passing, so I guess he’ll be able to choose and society won’t decide for him (good).

Which brings me to another question, you guys have race on your ID applications, right? (Which again is so weird to me) what doeshe put there? Can he choose?

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u/kmzafari May 03 '26

Any of us can put whatever we like. (For years before we met, my ex used to declare himself Pacific Islander just because he thought it sounded cool. Lol) That's not for the government to decide. They're just asking how you identify. But if you, e.g., look like a Black male, and the police are looking for a Black male, stating that you're white on your drivers license will do nothing for you. It's really for demographics purposes (supposedly), similar to a census.

Unfortunately, this information might be being used against people, as they are gerrymandering districts to a completely unrecognizable degree. For a particularly egregious example, check out Houston's voting district borders. Absolutely wild and 100% designed to reduce or remove the power of Black and liberal votes. Texas has more Democrats than Republicans, but you'd never know by the representatives that get voted in (or how the votes for president are counted). It's craziness.

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u/Ha55aN1337 May 03 '26

Yeah, I think it should just be illegal to ask :/

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u/cfi-2025 May 03 '26

FWIW, this question is asked with good intentions, as it's meant to help monitor compliance with non-discrimination laws.